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Nine years old
“What are you doing?”
Caitlyn stood over the edge of the pond, watching Vi and her siblings splash around in the water. The young prince had just been let out of another meeting with her mother and had immediately gone looking for the only other children in the palace. At least, the only ones who would play with her without being worried about her status.
She had spent quite some time attempting to track down the little family until Vander finally took pity on her and directed her to the furthest ends of the palace grounds.
“Cooling off!” Powder squeaked joyfully, waving her hands about as Vi struggled to keep the six-year-old safely perched on her shoulders. “It’s hot, so Vander let us come down here.”
“Why don’t you join us?” Claggor offered, swimming to the edge to stop right in front of Caitlyn.
Caitlyn bit her lip, glancing down at her silk anarkali (dress). Her mother definitely would not appreciate it if she ruined yet another garment. Caitlyn wasn’t sure if she could handle another lecture on the time and effort that was spent in gathering silk, weaving it, stitching it, all just to present her with the finest clothes. Last time, she had pointed out that she could wear an old kurta (tunic) to play, but that had just started a new lecture.
Still, it would be rude to refuse an invitation.
Mylo scoffed, sending Caitlyn a glare that made her shuffle her khussas (slippers) against the grass. “As if.”
Claggor rolled his eyes, shoving his brother just a little. He turned back to Caitlyn, giving her a kind smile.
“Ignore him. He’s still learning how to behave.”
Caitlyn took Claggor’s advice, her sapphire eyes travelling towards the back of the pond where Vi was refusing to look at her. For some reason, Vi was the only one in the group who never engaged with her. Not with anger or joy, just cool indifference. It was disconcerting, especially when Caitlyn wanted nothing more than to prove that she was just as capable of going on amazing adventures.
She kept looking at Vi, silently hoping that she would turn to Caitlyn and invite her to join too, but all she did was deposit Powder to pick up Ekko instead.
Caitlyn sighed internally. Vi was so strong, it made her stomach twist strangely. Maybe it was jealousy. She would have to ask Jayce.
When there was no response from the leader of the pack, Caitlyn shook her head, settling down on the grass with her legs crossed. “That’s okay. I’ll just wait until you’re done.”
“Suit yourself.” Claggor shrugged before launching into a discussion about a zafarnama (history book) she had lent him.
Eleven years old
Caitlyn sneezed miserably, raising her fist to rub her red and swollen eyes. She wasn’t used to being sick; in fact, she didn’t even remember a time when she had been sick for more than a day. Now going on her third night of a vicious flu, she felt ready to give up on the world altogether.
Rain pattered against her jaali (window lattice), a few of the droplets leaking into her room. Her father had left the balcony door open, insisting that the humid air would help her lungs expel the mucus built up in her throat, but all it seemed to do was make her feel more wretched.
She groaned, curling into herself as she tried to go back to sleep. If she had been in peak condition, she might’ve seen the dark figure climbing into her room. As it was, she only noticed once Vi tugged her shawl off.
Caitlyn blinked dumbly.
“Vi?” she croaked out, pushing herself up by the elbows.
Vi gave her that impossibly soft smile, sliding onto the edge of Caitlyn’s charpayi. She set a cup down, filled with kahva (herbal tea), Caitlyn noticed.
“Vander makes this for us when we’re sick,” Vi explained, waving her hand dismissively as if she hadn’t walked across the courtyard in hellish rain just to get Caitlyn a cup of steaming tea. “I just thought…” she trailed off, her gaze averting uncertainly.
That wouldn’t do.
“Thank you, Vi. This is lovely.” Caitlyn took a sip, feeling the spice warm up her chest. The relief of it was boundless, soothing the thickness that had built up inside of her. “You didn’t have to do this. What if you got a cold, too?”
“I’m too strong for that,” Vi boasted with false bravado, playfully boxing the air, her bruised knuckles seeming darker in the candlelight. “Plus, you fell out of a tree for me. Figured I owed you something after that.”
Normally, Caitlyn would’ve attempted to quip back with something equally aloof, but the sickness was making her sappy.
“I wish you wouldn’t think like that,” she blurted out, watching Vi’s bright eyes turn to her, widened in surprise. Lightning cracked against the sky, making Vi’s grey pupils look like molten silver, melting Caitlyn more than any tea could. “We’re… friends. Friends just do things for each other.”
Vi parted her lips, but before she could get a word out, they heard footsteps in the hall, breaking the delicate moment.
“I should go,” Vi muttered, grabbing her shawl and disappearing into the night before Caitlyn could stop her. Caitlyn watched the retreating figure as long as she could, savouring the toasty drink until sleep finally claimed her.
Fifteen years old
The sound of the water rushing was enough to distract Caitlyn. She tripped, almost landing flat on her face, before Vi’s hand shot out to steady her by the waist. Caitlyn inhaled sharply, peering up at Vi. Their faces were so close together, it would be so easy to lean in.
“Thank you,” Caitlyn squeaked, regaining her footing before clearing her throat to sound more like a normal human being.
“No problem,” replied Vi with that easy grin, nudging the branch that had forced its way into Caitlyn’s path aside with her boot. She grabbed Caitlyn’s hand, tugging her through the vegetation and closer to the river.
All Caitlyn could do was just stare. She didn’t get to do that as often lately. Between Vi’s training and her own lessons, the only time they got together was during their sparring sessions, and those didn’t count; both of them were more focused on beating each other than they were on enjoying each other’s company. It had taken a little pleading with Jayce and more than a few bags of lokma (sweets) to Powder to get the time for this little expedition.
Maybe Caitlyn could finally express her feelings to Vi here. The setting was certainly idyllic. They were alone, mercifully. The prince had practised her speech multiple times in front of her reflection, and she was almost sure that Vi wouldn’t refuse her. She had been keeping track of Vi’s behaviour, and the results showed that the pink-haired girl did the following things around Caitlyn more than anyone else: blush, stutter, avert her gaze, and, most importantly, slip her that tender, dreamy smile. All in all, the prince was very sure that Vi found her attractive, at least.
“Let’s stop here,” Vi said once they reached the riverbanks, kneeling down to cup some water into her hand and wash the sweat off her face. Liquid ran down Vi’s face, highlighting sooty lashes, the crooked curve of her nose, those scarred lips. The moment was perfect, all Caitlyn had to do was open her mouth and—
“Hey, look at those!” Vi pointed to a corner of the riverbank. Caitlyn’s head snapped in that direction, and she caught sight of a string of jhumka bail (jhumka creepers) curling around the fringes. “Aren’t they so pretty?”
“I… I suppose so,” Caitlyn agreed, slightly put off by the deviation of her plans. “They match your hair.”
Vi beamed, and the world around her went fuzzy for a moment.
“I think I’ll go get some,” Vi declared, kicking her jutis (shoes) off.
“Yes, well—Wait, what? Vi, you’ll get swept up by the current!” But Vi wasn’t listening, having already jumped into the stream, wading towards the flower vine. Caitlyn nearly jumped in after her, but by the time she had recovered from the shock, Vi was already climbing back out of the water.
“That was more exhausting than I thought,” Vi wheezed out, collapsing on her back in surrender.
Caitlyn clicked her tongue, already undoing her shawl to dry off Vi’s wet kurta (tunic). “You could have been hurt, or worse.”
“But I wasn’t,” Vi shot back cheekily before shoving the small, wilted, and damp bouquet into Caitlyn’s face. “For you, my shehzada (prince).”
Caitlyn’s face heated up. She normally hated it when anyone referred to her title, but coming from Vi, it sounded like the opening notes of a divine melody. Her fingers wrapped around the stems, her blush darkening as her hand brushed against Vi’s.
“Thank you,” she whispered breathlessly, forgetting the entire speech she had planned out. She sank into the grass next to Vi, content to just be there.
Seventeen years old
Caitlyn grumbled under her breath, her hands clenched into tight little fists at her sides as she stalked her way through the halls of the palace. It wasn’t fair. She had been attending these council meetings for years now, and her mother’s advisors still talked down to her as if she were some misguided youth with a half-baked plan. It was all so intensely infuriating that it sometimes made her organs feel as though they were boiling from the inside out.
She sighed, forcibly rolling her shoulders to let go of some of the tension that had built up. It would not do to harbour her frustrations, not when more joyous options were available on the horizon.
“Vi? I’m here,” she called out through the curtain, waiting for Vi’s confirmation before pushing the curtain to the side.
“You’re back early,” Vi commented, her head resting against the marble edge of her bathing pool.
Caitlyn hummed non-commitally, averting her gaze as she fiddled with a game of shatranj (chess) set up on Vi’s table. Vi chuckled, a low, mirthful sound.
“Your avoidance is noted. You know you can look at me, right?”
Caitlyn glanced up, very briefly allowing her gaze to take in the sheer beauty soaking in the bathing pool before going back to studying the game. “You haven’t debuted yet, and Bibi would have my head.”
“Bibi would have your head just for being here.”
The prickling heat of a traitorous flush bloomed across Caitlyn’s cheeks as she neared the pool. Still, she, very deliberately, sat with her back to Vi, determined to follow the rules of courtship to the best of her abilities. Even if those abilities were growing more short-tempered by the day.
“Tell me about your day,” Caitlyn requested, although it was more of a plea. She needed something, anything, to distract her mind from the asinine worries of bureaucracy.
Vi immediately launched into a story, as though she could sense the urgency in Caitlyn’s words. She talked about her lessons, and how she was getting strong enough to beat Vander in combat one day, and about Powder and Ekko’s latest shenanigans at the construction site of the new qila (fort). By the end, Caitlyn was laughing so hard that tears raced down her cheeks, her giggles turning into quiet, distressed sobs.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Vi,” she bemoaned, burying her face in her palms. She took a deep, calming, if slightly shaky, breath. “I don’t mean to be such a burden.”
The gentle crash of water hitting water filled the air. Caitlyn reflexively turned her head to see Vi sitting on the edge of the pool, her legs still dangling in the pool. Mercifully, Vi had covered herself with a plain white cloth, which meant at least Caitlyn would be able to focus.
“Don’t apologise. Not to me,” Vi murmured, a little divot forming between her eyebrows as she cupped Caitlyn’s cheek. Caitlyn sniffled, leaning into the touch as the cool water helped quell some of the anger simmering inside of her. Vi slid her other hand around Caitlyn’s waist, pulling the prince into the warmth of her embrace. Caitlyn had to fold her spine to be able to fit her entire torso under Vi’s chin, but the discomfort was worth it. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“I always want to talk about it with you,” Caitlyn confessed, resting her forehead against Vi’s shoulder, her eyes getting lost in the patterns of the fresh mehendi (stained henna). “I want to discuss everything with you. Ask you for your advice and your experience, but I don’t want to bring over a list of complaints every time I meet you. It’s so tedious.”
“Stop that,” Vi scolded. Even the reprimand sounded like a prayer. “Nothing about you is tedious or burdensome. Not between us. Never between us.”
Caitlyn’s head felt like it was taking a swim in the pool, dizzy and light and fresh. “Have I ever told you how much I revere you?”
“Yes, but doesn’t hurt to hear it again from time to time,” Vi teased before pressing her lips against Caitlyn’s temple. Caitlyn just dissolved into it, letting her worries be washed away for another day.
Twenty years old
The faucets of the fountain roared to life, spraying water in a magnificent array. Light filtered through the shower, casting a magical display of colours against the white marble tile. The birds chirped a sweet tune, swooping in to steal tiny gulps of liquid, and the flowers of the chaarbagh (gardens) released their intoxicating fragrance. And, in the middle of it all, Vi.
Perfect, effervescent Vi. A vision of beauty on the worst of days, and a veritable testament to the existence of a higher glory every other. If only Caitlyn could ensure that Vi’s tinkling laughter would never dull, she would give up everything she had in order to do it.
“What are you doing?” Caitlyn asked, her lips stretching into a silly grin.
“Whatever I feel like!” Vi yelled back, like it was the most normal thing in the world. She dragged her hands through the water, splattering Caitlyn’s anarkali (dress). “You should try it. Does wonders for the soul.”
The invitation was certainly doing something for Caitlyn’s soul. She had only begun to weigh the pros and cons in her head when Vi’s hand shot out, callused and open. All those pesky little thoughts faded away, draining down the pipes with the water while Caitlyn slid her fingers into Vi’s palm. She shrieked as she was pulled into the fountain, her hands immediately wrapping around Vi’s toned upper arms.
Vi hummed, matching her rhythm to the bird’s warbling as she twirled Caitlyn around. Despite the soaked clothes weighing her down, Caitlyn felt like she was dancing on air. Not that it mattered. Caitlyn could fly straight into the sky and not notice a thing, so long as her fingers were threaded with Vi’s
“Happy birthday, meri jaan (my life),” Caitlyn breathed out, watching Vi’s face sparkle with delight. “I am yours today, tomorrow, and for as many tomorrows as there shall be.”
“You promise me that every year,” Vi pointed out.
“I mean it every year.”
Vi just beamed, and Caitlyn knew that she could definitely do this forever.